Battle Royal
by Snow Princess Galian
Summary: Tai and Joe are getting strange phone calls which could mean the start of a new battle and rise of evil. Not too much action in this part. Please R&R!!
1. Default Chapter Title

Author's note: This takes place a few months after season 01. I know, I know. It's a little late to be writing 01 fanfics and I should be concentrating on 02, but I DON'T CARE!!! I like 01 a lot better than 02 and I'll start writing 02 fics when the characters grow on me a bit. But until then, I only write 01 fics. Besides, I like Tai better with his goggles ^_^!!

Battle Royal

Rays of yellow light penetrated the clouds. A light wind brought comfort to the digimon as they frolicked and played among the grassy plains and forests of the Digital World. It had been months since the Digidestined had saved both the real and digital world from destruction and the eight chosen digimon were hailed as heroes by the other digimon. Since then, there has been no sign of trouble. Patamon played with a few Tokomon he knew before he went on his adventure with TK. He and the others were having fun playing tag.

Gomamon was floating on the surface of the water while Gatomon was on the shore. "It sure feels nice to relax after that adventure." Gomamon said, looking at the sky. "It sure does." Gatomon agreed. She tried to be cheerful, but Gomamon could hear the sadness in her voice. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I miss Kari. I didn't get to spend as much time with her as you did with Joe."

"I really miss Joe, and the other kids. I wonder what they're doing right now."

"Maybe they're thinking about us."

"Maybe."

Gomamon continued to stare at the sky. He remembered when they had returned to Digiworld after beating VenomMyotismon. He was able to see the human world in the sky, now all he saw were clouds and the sun beating down on him. 'Joe,' Gomamon felt like he might cry thinking about his old partner and friend. 'We'll meet again, I just know it. We'll meet again.'

Gomamon's thoughts were interrupted by what appeared to be a black star beating in the sky. "Gatomon, look." Gomamon said as he pointed a flipper at the star. The star shone and beated like a heart. With each beat, it gradually got bigger. Just as suddenly as it had appeared, it expanded all over the sky like an explosion. The entire sky was covered by dark thunder clouds and a figure sailed across the sky. "What is that thing?" Gomamon asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it." Gatomon replied.

A vortex in the cloud appeared and began to swirl like a funnel cloud. Purple lighting crashed through the funnel as it descended into the water. "A water spout! Gomamon, get out of the water!" Gatomon yelled. Gomamon tried as hard as he could to fight the current bringing him closer to the water spout every second. He was lifted into the air and hurled into the spiraling cloud. "GOMAMON!!!" Gatomon yelled as she watched her friend disappear. 

Tai sat on the couch still in his pajamas as Kari flipped through the channels. She stopped on one station and Tai gritted his teeth. "No, Kari! Not Sailor Moon!" he groaned. 

"What's wrong with Sailor Moon?!" Kari asked defensively.

"Nothing. It's just that they showed this episode like a million times."

"I know, but I want to watch it!"

"What, you think Usagi's actually going to fight this time? We're watching Wild Arms!"

"We always watch Wild Arms!"

"I thought you liked Wild Arms!"

"I do, but I haven't seen Sailor Moon is such a long time."

"Look, Kari. They've aired this episode about a million times and if my gut is correct, they'll air it another million times. Meanwhile, on the other station, they're airing a new episode of Wild Arms."

"All right, all right! We'll watch Wild Arms. And just what is wrong with Usagi?"

"Nothing, except for the fact that she cries all the time and can't fight and she can't even hold her own against a bad guy for two seconds with out Tuxedo Mask or the other Sailor Scouts having to come in and save her sorry excuse for a Sailor 'Soldier' butt. And, whenever she does kill an enemy, it's because someone always has to risk life and limb to give her a clear shot at the monster."

Kari just sighed and shook her head as she flipped to the station that was airing Wild Arms. Tai made himself comfortable as did Kari. Just as the opening credits played, the phone rang. "Ugh, perfect timing." Tai growled as he went to answer it. Usually he would've just let it ring, but it was rather hard to concentrate on the show when the phone was ringing. Besides, his mom would've harassed him for hours if she found out he just let it ring, and that would've been much more annoying.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver. He was replied by a weird humming, almost alien, noise. Tai had never heard a sound like that before in his life and he immediately assumed that someone was prank calling him. He hung up and then dialed * 69 to retrace the call. He drummed his fingers on the table as the familiar sound of a phone ringed on the other end. Tai was surging with anger and was ready to chew out whoever called him. "We're sorry. The number you have dialed has been disconnected." Came a mechanical voice from the phone. 'Weird' Tai thought as he hung up, deciding to just let the whole thing drop. Meanwhile, in his bedroom, Tai's digivice was bleeping, but slowly, the bleeping died down until it returned to it's normal state.

Joe was reading his Human Anatomy book and taking down notes when his phone rang. "Hello?" he asked. The same strange humming noise sounded from his phone. "Stupid prank callers!" he said, slamming the phone down in anger. He was completely unaware that his digivice had been going off while he was on the phone.

"Who was that on the phone, Tai?" Kari asked when Tai returned to the couch. "Just some prank caller. Don't people have anything better to do with their time?" he replied as he once again made himself comfortable. About half way into the show, the phone rang again. "Are people completely unaware of the fact that I'm trying to watch TV?!" Tai exclaimed angrily. There is nothing worse than when the phone rings during a new episode of your favorite show, especially during the climax. "I'll get it!" Kari said, hoping to sooth her raging brother. She leaped off the couch and picked up the phone. 

"Hello?"

"Is Tai there?" an unfamiliar voice said.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Just get Tai on the phone now!"

"He's a little busy right now," Kari said, glancing at her brother who was really getting into the show, what with it being the climactic battle and all. "Can you call back?"

"No! I need him now!"

"Now's not really a good time and…"

"Now wench! Put him on now!"

"Why should I? You're being awfully rude!"

"All right, all right. I'm sorry. Let me try again. Will you please put Tai on the phone?"

Kari glanced over to the TV. The battle was over and Kari assumed it was safe to get Tai's attention. "Sure, no problem." She said. She walked over to the couch and shook Tai on the shoulder. "Phone's for you." She said when he looked up at her. Tai got up and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" Just as before, the humming sound came from the other end. Meanwhile, Tai's digivice started reacting again. "Look, I don't know who you are," Tai yelled into the phone, "but you must have a pretty sad life to be doing this! Stop calling me, dammit!" Tai slammed the phone down. The second he did so, his digivice returned to normal. "Kari, who was that?" he asked.

"I don't know. He didn't leave his name."

Tai shook his head and sighed. "Doesn't matter now. I'll find him, and when I do he's gonna regret this." He said, slamming his fist into his opened hand. Kari sighed. 'Why does Tai have to be so violent?' she thought as he walked into the room they both shared. A few minutes later, Tai walked out in his normal apparel. Blue shirt, brown shorts, and of course, his trade mark goggles. "Where are you going?" Kari asked. 

"No where right now. I'm going to meet Sora, Matt, and Joe later for lunch today, so I thought I'd just get dressed now."

Gomamon opened his eyes and found himself in an underwater cave. 'Where am I?' he thought as he looked around. Something shiny caught his attention. He walked over to it and was unsure of what he was seeing. 'Crests,' he thought, 'Courage and Reliability. But they're all the wrong color.' The crest of Courage and Reliability were hanging on the wall of the cave. The tags were shining gold and held immense power within them. The thing was that the Courage crest was, instead of orange, the colors of the Crest of Reliability and vise versa. Below the crests was a cave painting in which the symbol on Courage and Reliability joined together.

Gomamon starred at the crests and painting for a while, then a bright grin spread across his face when he realized what this might mean. "The Digidestined must be coming back! Joe! I'd better go see Gennai!" he yelled as he ran through the cave.

Tai sat down next to Sora and slowly unwrapped his double-cheese burger. Joe and Matt were on the other side of the table and doing the same. Joe seemed pretty mad at something as did Tai, who also looked sort of depressed. "What's wrong?" Sora asked Tai, kissing him on the cheek. "I've just been having sort of a crappy day today. This weird person called me twice, and each time I picked up the phone, this weird humming noise came out."

"Really? The same thing happened to me." Joe said.

"Humming noise, huh?" Matt said, thoughtfully. "What kind of humming noise? Do you mean as in someone actually humming or something technical?"

"Something alien!" Tai said. "I've never heard anything like it before in my life! Here's what's really weird. I traced the call, and the operator said the number was disconnected."

"Maybe we should tell Izzy about this, no doubt he'll have some sort of theory for it." Sora suggested.

"Strange humming noise, huh?" Izzy said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his chin deep in thought. "And you two are the only one's who got called?" he motioned towards Tai and Joe as he spoke. "Yeah, and Kari said that when she answered the phone, some guy she didn't recognize asked for me." Tai added. Izzy closed his eyes then turned to his laptop, typing feverishly. The other kids watched in silence as Izzy's fingers never once left the keyboard. "Well?" someone said after about a minute. Izzy stopped typing and turned towards them. He scanned his gaze across the room, looking at each one of them to see if they were paying attention. He licked his lips and slowly opened his mouth. "Aliens."

There was a moment of silence before sweat drops formed on the heads of the other kids. "We should've known." Sora said and the others nodded in agreement. Izzy looked around and sighed. "Don't be so quick to dismiss my theory. The aliens are trying to make contact with us, but I don't know what they want yet. Tai, Joe, you guys watch your backs. They aliens may want to kidnap you and do God knows what to you." The other kids nodded and let themselves out. "Izzy and his aliens…." Matt muttered as he left.

Tai went back to his apartment and flopped down on the couch. He closed his eyes and was ready to let himself fall back into sleep when the phone rang. Tai gritted his teeth and tried to ignore it. "Kari, could you get that?" he yelled. When there was no reply, he opened his eyes a crack and scanned the apartment. He appeared to be alone. Growling, Tai got up.

"Hello?" Tai muttered. Once again, the strange humming sound emitted from the phone. "Why are you doing this?" Tai asked, sounding more tired and indifferent than angry. 

Kari had her head phones on and was listening to music when she saw something flashing out of the corner of her eye. She took her head phones off and approached Tai's desk, where she had spotted it. There, Tai's digivice was activated. Astounded, Kari picked up his digivice. "Tai!" she yelled.

"Tai!" Tai heard his sister yell from the other room. "Gotta go, please don't call back." He said as Kari came out of the room. He hung up the phone and the very second he did, the digivice stopped reacting. "What's wrong?" he asked his little sister with concern. "Your digivice was reacting, but it stopped when you hung up the phone." She replied, handing him his digivice. Tai took the digivice and looked at it, then at Kari. "Was your digivice activated too?" he asked her.

"I didn't have time to check, but I don't think it was."

"Was it activated for long?"

"No. Just for a while until you hung up. This definantly has something to do with the phone calls."

Tai nodded in agreement. "I wonder if Joe's digivice has been activating. Maybe the other kids are getting called too. Kari, get your digivice. I'm calling an emergency meeting."

Six young kids sat in a circle waiting for their leader and his younger sister to show up. "Tai better show up! I should be studying now!" Joe said. He didn't like to be torn from his studies, but if it involved the Digiworld, you could bet your life he'd be there. They don't call him 'Old Reliable Joe' for nothing. His thoughts were interrupted when two figures came running towards the group. "It's about time!" Sora said as Tai and Kari skidded to a stop infront of the group. "Yeah, sorry. Subway was running a little late." Tai said, trying to catch his breath. He and Kari took their places among the other kids.

"As some of you already know, Joe and I have been getting strange phone calls. Each time we picked up the phone, there'd be an alien-like humming noise on the other end. Last time I was called, my digivice was reacting the whole time I was on the phone and stopped when I hung up." Tai shot a quick glance at Joe as he finished the last sentence. He shook his head. "I don't know I my digivice has been acting up, but I'll check next time." Joe said and Tai nodded in approval. He then turned to the others and asked, "Has anyone else been getting these strange phone calls?" The other kids shook their heads. "Then it's just you 'n me, Joe. I wonder if there's trouble in the Digital World." Tai said.

Joe looked up at the sky. "I really hope we don't have to return to the Digiworld. I have a lot of studying to do. But, if Gomamon's in trouble," 

"I know, me too Joe." Tai said, obviously worried about Agumon. "What do you make of this, Izzy?"

"Something has got to be a miss in the Digital World, or else your digivices wouldn't be reacting. I'll try to contact Gennai tonight, but I can't help but wonder why the rest of us haven't been getting called." 

"Let's just focus at the problem at hand, for now. We'll worry about that later." Tai said.

"Oh, man. What if only Tai and I can go back? That means we'd have to face whatever evil is there….alone…..just the two of us. I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Relax Joe! We've defeated evil monsters before, we can do it again, even if only you and I can go back. Besides, it won't be just the two of us, we'll have Agumon and Gomamon with us. Anyway, there's got to be a way back, and I intend to find it!"

Tai looked at Joe, waiting for a reply. He looked back at Tai with a doubtful 'I'm with ya' look in his eyes. Tai nodded. He understood why Joe was questioning what was going on. Why could only he and Joe go back? Why couldn't the other Digidestined come to? "Keep in touch incase any of you start getting reactions from your digivices." Tai instructed the others as he got up. The others nodded and got up as well. Sora was about to leave when she turned around and grabbed Tai by the arm. "Can I talk to you?"

Tai nodded and Sora lead him to another place in the park, covered heavily be trees.

"I really hope the rest of us get contacted." Sora said, looking down at her feet. Tai nodded and put his hand under her chin. He slowly lifted her head until they were at eye level. "And why is that?" he asked softly.

"I want to go back to the Digital World and see Biyomon again. I want to go incase you and Joe have to go back. I want to fight beside you, Tai. Just like last time. I don't think I could stand the thought of being stuck here while you and Joe go back to 'war' as you call it. I'd worry about you."

"I know, Sora. It won't be the same with out you be my side in the Digital World."

"If you do have to go back, please be careful, and say 'hi' to Biyomon for me, if you see her."

"Of course, but don't get to worried yet. We don't know if only Joe and I can go back, and maybe you'll get to see Biyomon….somehow. This is all happening way too fast! Just yesterday…..scratch that. Just this morning I didn't even think I was going back to the Digital World any time soon, and now, I don't know. It's just weird." 

Sora nodded and looked into Tai's eyes. Tai looked back into her eyes and saw the love and concern that drawn had him to her. He ran his fingers through her hair. Sora looked like she was about to cry. She rested her head on his shoulder and Tai wrapped his arms around her. "You don't need to worry. No matter what happens." Tai said softly, and received a sigh from Sora in reply. Tai felt his stomach growl and he knew he should be getting back home pretty soon. It was almost time for dinner and Kari was waiting for him. Sora slowly pulled put of Tai's grasp. "I'll call you tomorrow." She said without even looking at him. 

Sora turned to leave after saying good bye to Tai. Tai returned her good bye and watched as Sora walked off. She stopped and looked back at him. He smiled a reassuring smile at her, which she accepted by smiling back. Tai glanced behind him and saw Kari leaning up against a tree, patiently waiting for him. He looked back at Sora who gave him a 'go on' look. Tai turned to leave, waving good bye as he did. Sora waved back and put her hand to her chest. "Taichi…" she whispered as he walked back to where his little sister was waiting. "What ever happens, please be careful."


	2. Default Chapter Title

  
  
Battle Royal part two  
  
Joe woke to the sound of his name being called and someone shaking him. He opened his eyes to see his older brother, Jim, above him. "Phone's for you." He said as Joe sat up. Jim left and Joe rubbed his eyes, yawning. He got up and made his way to the phone on his desk. "Hello?" he said groggily. The humming noise he had heard before replied. He was about to hang up when he remembered what Tai had said the day before. He set the phone down and put his glasses on. He searched his desk drawer and found his digivice. His was reacting just as Tai's was. He sat down and picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello," he said once again. The noise was still sounding on the other end of the phone. "You've reached Digidestined Joe. Is there something you need me to do? Gennai, are you there? Anyone?" Joe tried desperately to get a reply other than that annoying sound, but failed. He then remembered that Izzy was going to try to get in touch with Gennai. "Listen, whoever you are, I'm going to have to let you go now. Call back when you can actually tell me something." He said before hanging up the phone. His digivice shut down the second he did.  
  
Joe picked up the phone again and dialed Izzy's number. He tapped the top of his desk while waiting for an answer. "Hello?" an female voice answered. "Is Izzy available? This is Joe." He replied.  
"Izzy's asleep right now."  
"Could you wake him up, please? This is kind of important."  
"Yes, hold on."  
The woman, obviously Mrs. Izumi, set the phone down and a few minutes later, a groggy Izzy answered. "Hello?" he said sounding rather out of it.  
"Izzy, it's Joe. I just got called again and my digivice was reacting, just like Tai's."  
"Really?"  
"Yes."  
Joe was about to speak again, but was cut off by the sound of dialing.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Calling Tai. He'll want to hear about this."  
"I didn't know you had three-way talk. By the way, did you ever get called?"  
"Not yet, and I'm starting to doubt any of us will be. If you and Tai are getting called so much, then we should've been called as well, by now."  
"Hello?" a very groggy Tai answered.  
"Tai, you with us?" Izzy asked.  
"Just barely. What's going on?"  
"I got called again and my digivice was reacting, just like yours."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah. By the way, Izzy, did you get in touch with Gennai?"  
"No. It's weird. It's almost as if something, or someone, was blocking the connection to the Digital World."  
"Oh, great! If that's the case, then how are we supposed to get back?" a now fully awake Tai asked.  
"There's got to be a way. First, we need to establish contact with whoever is trying to call you guys."  
"I tried that already and it didn't work!"  
"How did you do that?"  
"I tried talking to the guy, but all I got was that humming sound."  
"I don't think that's the kind of contact Izzy was talking about, Joe. Listen, I'll talk to you guys later, I really need to get back to sleep. Maybe I'll call another meeting."  
"Okay, bye guys."  
"Bye."  
  
Tai hung up the phone and walked over to his bed. He crawled in a closed his eyes. He was just at the edge of sleep when he heard Kari stirring above him. She got to the ladder and made her way down to the floor. She went through her dresser and Tai opened his eyes. "Kari, what are you doing up so early?" he asked as he watched his sister through half-way opened eyes. "Getting ready to chat with my pen pal in America." She replied.  
"Do you need to get dressed for that?"  
"Well, she's probably up and dressed by now seeing as how it's after one where she lives. I'd feel weird talking to her in my pajamas while she's wearing clothes."  
"I just don't understand you sometimes." Tai sighed as he once again closed his eyes.  
  
Kari, now fully dressed, made her way to the computer and turned it on. As she did, Mr. Kamiya came out of his room and poured himself a cup of coffee. "What are you doing up so early, Kari?" he asked when he saw her.  
"I'm going to chat with my pen pal." She replied.  
"Why do you need to be dressed for that?"  
  
Gomamon clawed his way to shore then collapsed, panting heavily. "Thought I'd never find my way outta there!" he said in between gasps. After a few minutes of resting, Gomamon continued his quest to Gennai's place. He was tired and hungry. Never the less he continued until he collapsed once again. "It'll take me forever to get there at this rate." He mumbled as he tried to get up. He started to think that he should try to take a nap before continuing. Just as he settled himself to sleep, he heard hooves in the distance. He opened his eyes and saw what appeared to be Centarumon galloping through the forest. "Centarumon!" Gomamon screamed for all he was worth.   
  
The yell was enough to make Centarumon stop and walk over to where the noise had come from. "Gomamon!" he said as he knelt to the fallen sea beast. Gomamon reached out his flipper. "Centarumon! You've got to take me to Gennai's! Strange things are happening to the Digital World!" he panted.  
"Yes, I've noticed. I was on my way there myself. Climb on my back and I'll take you there."  
  
Using what little strength he had left, Gomamon climbed onto Centarumon's back. "Hold on tight." Centarumon said as he sprung into a gallop. Gomamon was almost thrown off by the abrupt start, but managed to hang on with his claws. "Hey! Watch it!" Centarumon said as he winced at the claws digging into his skin. "Sorry!" Gomamon squeaked as he began to slide off. Centarumon slowed his pace so that the little seal-like creature could regain his balance. Gomamon placed his flippers on Centarumon's shoulders and fell into a relaxed, almost sleeping, position and began to regain his strength.   
  
After a few hours, Tai came out of his bedroom, fully awake and dressed. Kari was still on the computer. "Still chatting with your pal?" Tai said.   
"No, we stopped about forty minutes ago. Her older sister was bugging her to go to Burger King or something with her to get dinner. I'm just cruising around now."  
Tai nodded while pouring himself some orange juice. "By the way, Joe and Izzy called earlier. Joe had been called by that something and his digivice was reacting. Izzy was unable to contact Gennai, so I'm holding another meeting today to discuss what's going on and what we're gonna do."  
  
As Tai began to make breakfast for himself and his sister the phone rang. Tai and Kari stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. Tai motioned to their bedroom with his eyes and Kari nodded. She went to get her digivice and Tai put a hand on the phone while he held his digivice in his other hand. When Kari came back with her digivice, he picked up the phone. The two siblings were surprised when neither of their digivices reacted.   
  
"I don't get it, at least yours should be reacting." Kari said. Tai nodded in agreement and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?" he said. Kari watched her brother's expression turn from confused and serious to casual and humored. "It's Sora." He said to her. Kari sighed as a sweat drop formed on her forehead. With all the excitement going on, they both forgot that other people use the phone as well.  
  
"Tai, I'm sorry if I woke you up." Sora said.  
"Don't worry about it. I was already up."  
"I was just wondering if you had anything planned today. You know, for the phone calls.."  
"As a matter of fact, I'm calling another meeting today. Could you please tell Mimi about it while I call Matt?"  
"Sure, no problem."  
"Thanks, I'll see you later then?"  
"Wait!"  
"Yeah?"  
"I.....I'll tell you later."  
"Okay then, bye."  
"Bye."  
  
Tai hung up the phone. He was about to return to the task at hand, when the phone rang again. He looked at Kari who still held her digivice in hand. Tai picked up the phone and was answered by none other than the humming noise. The siblings looked at their digivices. Tai's was reacting, while Kari's was not. Kari looked slightly disappointed as she hooked her digivice to her belt.   
  
Tai was also disappointed. He felt bad that Kari couldn't come with him if he needed to return to the Digital World. Sure, it was much safer for Kari to be here, but Kari was a lot stronger than she looked. She could take care of herself and besides, she'd have Tai and Gatomon to watch over her. Tai knew how much Kari wanted to see Gatomon again. Those two made a great team from the start.  
  
Out of nowhere, Tai heard a static voice calling for him on the phone. "Can you hear me?" it said. Startled, Tai replied. "Yeah, I can hear you. Who are you?"   
"I'm so glad I finally got in touch with you directly!"  
"Who are you?"  
"That's not important right now! There's trouble in the Digital World!"  
"Like what?"  
"Evil DigiGod! You and the Warrior of Reliability must return!"  
"How?"  
"First, the computer must be on."  
"The computer is on..."  
"Tai! The computer's all messed up!" Kari said.  
  
Tai turned to see the computer screen disorientated and hissing like a TV when the cable goes out.  
  
"You are unable to return right now! The computer must be on, but it must not be in use. Second, you must leave the same phone that you were called on off the hook. These two elements are very important! If the computer is turned off or the phone hung up while you are back in the Digital World, you may not be able to return."  
"Yeah, okay. What next?"  
"You must touch the computer screen with your digivice. Then, you will be transported to the Digital World."  
"That's it?"  
"That's it."  
"Why didn't you just tell me before instead of making me listen to that stupid humming noise!?"  
"The dimensional rift that connects the Digital World to yours is very sensitive right now. I wasn't able to talk to you unless the computer was on."  
"But you were able to talk to Kari!"  
"Yes, but her digivice wasn't reacting and that made the air waves a bit clearer. Whenever you or the Warrior of Reliability were on the phone, your digivices would react and gum everything up."  
"Okay, I see. Just one more thing."  
"Yes?"  
"I understand that you yelled at my sister, calling her a 'wench'."  
"Yeah, sorry about that. I was in a bad mood. Don't worry, wench doesn't mean anything bad."  
"What do you mean?! It means 'prostitute'!!!"  
"That's the third definition! The first means 'young woman; girl'. I would never call the Warrior of Light a prostitute!"  
  
Tai sighed. "Okay, I got it. So when do me and Joe return anyway?"  
"I'll call you when the time is right. Just be patient. I assume you'll tell the Warrior of Reliability of the process?"  
"Of course."  
"Don't leave out ANY detail! This is very important."  
"Don't worry, I won't! By the way, will we ever meet you?"  
"You may when you return."  
  
That said, the static-drowned voiced disappeared and the humming sound replaced it. Tai hung up the phone. "What's going on?" Kari asked.  
"Joe and I have to go back." He said gently to his younger sister.  
  
Kari grabbed Tai's arm. "Why? Why can't the rest of us go too?" she asked, almost yelling.  
"I don't know. I forgot to ask him. Don't worry. I'll say 'hi' to Gatomon if I see her."  
  
Kari let go of Tai's arm and hung her head. Tai put his arms around her and hugged her protectively. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest. "I know, Kari. I'm worried about the digimon too." He said, running his fingers through her short hair.  
"But what if something bad happened to Gatomon and the other digimon? What if Agumon and Gomamon are the only ones alive? What if that's the reason only you and Joe can go back?" she said in a muffled voice. She was almost at the point of tears at the thought of something horrible happening to her digimon.  
"I'm sure there's more to it than that. Gatomon's tough. It'll take a lot to take her down. I'm sure she and the other digimon are all right."  
"But how can you be sure? Something bad is happening! I know it! Oh, Gatomon!"  
  
Tai felt his sister's warm tears stain his shirt. He knelt down so that he was at eye level with her. He placed his hand under her chin and lifted her head until she was looking into his eyes. "You have to have faith, Kari." He said gently, barely moving his lips. Kari lunged even deeper into Tai's embrace. She hugged him around the neck with her left arm and around the waist with her right. She cried into his shoulder and tightened her grip around him. She was scared. Both for him and her digimon friends.  
  
Tai held her closely and tried to calm her down. He felt like he might cry seeing Kari like this. "I'm sure Gatomon and the others are all right." He whispered to her repeatedly, even though he knew how unsure his words sounded. It was the only way he could comfort her right now. She was so sure that Gatomon had been killed, or worse. Kari's grip around her brother began to loosen and her arms fell to her sides. She was completely limp in his arms. Kari had cried herself to sleep.  
  
Tai picked her up and carried her into their room. He laid her down on his bed and tucked her in. "Don't worry, Kari. I'm going to find Gatomon and the others and make sure they're okay." He brushed the bangs out of her closed eyes and gently kissed her on the forehead. He turned to leave and stopped at the door. "And if they're not, I'll destroy whoever was responsible. I promise." Miko ran into the room and jumped on Tai's bed, snuggling against Kari. She unconsciously wrapped her arm around the cat and hugged him gently. Miko purred and rubbed his face against hers. Tai smiled. "That's it, Miko. Be Kari's Gatomon for a while. She needs it." He said as he gently closed the door behind him.  
  
"We're here." Centarumon said to the sleeping Gomamon. Gomamon stirred and opened his eyes. With renewed strength, he jumped off and ran to the lake. Just as he launched himself into the air to perform a gracefully swan-dive into the water, the water separated revealing the stair case to the bottom. Centarumon sweat dropped as Gomamon landed on his head and fell down the rest of the stair case with the occasional 'oof' until a loud 'thud' was heard. He ran down the stairs after the water digimon.  
  
"You okay?" Centarumon said when he got to the bottom. Gomamon was lying on his back with a lump on the side of his head and his eyes were little swirls. "Ah....just fine." Gomamon said, drooling a bit. Centarumon sighed and picked him up.  
  
The eight Digidestined were once again gathered in their regular meeting place. Kari was awake now, but it was apparent she had been crying. "I'm not sure who it was that called, but he said that Joe and I had to return to the Digital World."  
"He didn't say anything about the rest of us?" TK asked.  
"No."  
"But why not?" Sora asked.  
"I don't know yet, but I'm sure Joe and I will find out when we return."  
"And just how are we supposed to get back?" Joe sounded slightly angry when he said that, but it was probably due to too much stress.  
"He said that the computer had to be on, but it couldn't be in use. Then he said that we had to leave the same phone we were called on off the hook. All we do after that is touch are digivices to the screen and we're back!"  
"That's it?"  
"That's it. But there's one more thing."  
"What?"  
"He said that if the computer is turned off or the phone hung up while we're in the Digital World, we may not be able to return."  
"So when do we go back?"  
"I guess the next time he calls. Just make sure the computer on and clear. We should probably prepare ourselves. You know, pack the essentials."  
"Just leave that to me!"  
  
Mimi chuckled a bit at Joe's remark. She remembered when he had packed toilet paper for their return to the Digital World. "I'll try to keep touch with you guys. Maybe the connection to the Digital World will be clearer when you return." Izzy said. Tai nodded in approval and everyone got up. Kari was still hugging Tai. It was as if he was the only thing that kept her alive. Tai got a worried look on his face. "Matt," he said. Matt walked over to where they were. "Yeah?"  
"While I'm gone, could you please look after Kari?"  
"Of course. Don't worry about it. I'll treat her like she was my own little sister."  
  
Tai smiled and looked down at Kari. "Kari, I need you to be strong while I'm gone. Matt's gonna look after you, so don't worry. I'm sure Sora will look after you too. Will you be okay?" Kari sniffled for a while, then looked up into her brother's eyes. "I'll be strong, just like you."  
  
Tai smiled at his sister then turned to the others. "We should go to Izzy's house to prepare for our departure. We'll make a list of things we might need and anything else."  
"I'll probably be able to get a trace on whatever's going on there too." Izzy said.  
"All right then, let's go."  
  
The kids were about to leave for the subway when Sora stopped Tai. "Please, I need to speak with you now." She said gently. The other kids had stopped to see what the two were up to. "Go ahead. We'll catch up to you." Tai said, waving at the others. Sora pulled Tai into the same spot they had gone the day before. It was covered with trees, offering just the right amount of privacy. "Tai..."  
"Yeah?"  
"I just, well......you've been my best friend since kindergarten. You're almost like a brother to me. And from that friendship our romance bloomed. I just want to say that....please be careful, Tai. I love you."  
"I love you, too, Sora Takenouchi."  
  
The two lovers closed in for a passionate kiss. They wrapped their arms around each others necks and closed their eyes. For three whole minutes the young lovers kissed until they opened their eyes and slowly pulled away. Sora put her hand on Tai's cheek. "Please come back alive." She whispered.  
  
Tai put his hand on hers, pressing it even more into his cheek. "Don't worry. I'll come back in one piece, I promise. And I promise I'll find Biyomon and the others. You can count on me." The two closed in for a quick kiss and then slipped into a tight hug. Sora was hugging Tai so tightly, he had some difficulty breathing. Sora was aware of this, but she didn't want to let go. She was afraid to let go. She was afraid that this would be the last time they would hug. That she might never again see her beloved Taichi alive. Slowly, Sora loosened her grip on Tai.  
  
Once the hug had ended, Tai put his hand under Sora's chin and kissed her on the lips. They took each other's hands and walked off to join the others. Sora rested her head on Tai's shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her. Sora always felt so safe in his strong arms.  
  
"Hey, what's taking you guys so long?" Mimi yelled as Sora and Tai came into view. They both separated from each other and jogged a bit to catch up to the others. Once they had rejoined the group, they walked to the subway through a nearby school zone.  
  
Kari was walking next to Matt. Though she'd prefer to be by her brother's side, she decided she'd better get used to Matt being her temporary big brother. It wasn't that she didn't like Matt. In fact, she liked him a lot. It was just that Matt and Tai were so different. He could never replace Tai just like Tai could never replace him.  
  
Kari looked down and noticed one of her shoe laces was untied. She stopped and knelt down to tie it. It was only when he had finished crossing the street when Matt noticed Kari wasn't beside him anymore. He looked back and saw her tying her shoe with Tai and Sora bringing up the rear.  
  
"Okay everyone. There are a lot of stores here, so it might be a good idea to do some browsing for anything Tai and Joe might need in the Digital World." Izzy said, sounding intelligent as usual. The other kids agreed and were about to do so, when they heard a loud roaring sound. The looked around and saw a car going fifty miles an hour in a fifteen mile school zone. Their looks and thoughts of disgust turned to horror when they realized the car was speeding down the very same road Kari was tying her shoe in. (Okay, who didn't see that one coming? Be honest.)   
  
"Kari!" Tai yelled, his eyes wide as the car came ever closer to where his defenseless little sister was. The driver of the car had obviously seen Kari, and just as obviously didn't care that he was about to hit a completely defenseless little girl. Kari stood, petrified with fear. She could hear people yelling at her; telling her to get out of the way, but she couldn't. She tried to yell, but her voice was frozen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a big green streak push her out of the way just in time.  
  
Kari fell to the ground with a loud thud. She scraped her arm up pretty badly and she hit her head pretty hard too. Dazed for a few seconds, Kari slowly got up to see what had happened. The car had flew down the street and people were chasing after it in their own cars or on motorcycles. Some people ran to pay phones to report what they had saw. She looked to her left and was horrified by what she saw.   
  
Matt was lying in the middle of the street, bleeding and seemingly unconscious. The car had hit him head on. Kari ran to his side as did the other Digidestined. "Matt!" Kari and TK shouted at the same time. Tai was the first by his side. He gently cradled his fallen friend into a sitting position. "Matt...." He said, nearly speechless. "Matt, you saved me." Kari said.  
  
Matt smiled, seeing that Kari was safe. "Matt, why? You know I would've done that in a heartbeat. Why did you?" Tai said, close to the point of tears. "You're needed in the Digital World, Tai. We can't have you getting hurt. Besides, you asked me to look after Kari and I told you, I was going to treat her like she was my own little sister." That said, Matt grunted in pain and lost consciousness.  
  
"Matt!" TK cried into his brother's arm. Sora put her hands on TK's shoulders in an attempt to comfort him. "This is all my fault." Kari said, quietly. Tai took immediate action. "All right! Some one get on the phone and call an ambulance! Some one should call Matt's parents too. Joe, help me stop the bleeding!"   
  
The kids did as they were told. TK and Kari sat off to the side, crying. "This is all my fault." Kari said again. Upon hearing this, Tai approached her. He knelt down in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, Kari. It's the driver's. He was going fifty in a school zone and he didn't care who got in his way."  
"It IS my fault! I was in the road! If I only had enough common sense to wait until I was on the side walk to tie my shoe, this wouldn't have happened!"  
  
Tai put his hands on Kari's face and forced her to look up at him. "You didn't know this was going to happen. It's not your fault. Matt doesn't think so. Blaming yourself is not going to get anything done. What's happened has happened and it doesn't matter who's fault it was. All that matters is that Matt lives! Now hold still."  
  
Tai took Kari's scraped arm and began to disinfect it with Joe's first aid kit supplies. It was only then that she realized how much her arm hurt. Tai cleaned and bandaged her wound just as the sound of ambulance and police sirens were heard in the distance. "Is this too tight?" he asked her as he finished with the bandage. Kari shook her head.  
  
The paramedics lifted the unconscious boy into the ambulance. TK was given a ride to the hospital in the ambulance, but the others had to walk. Their parents had already been notified. It was a grueling two hour walk to the hospital, but it was worth it to see if Matt would be all right or not.  
  
The six children sat outside of Matt's room. Each one was shifting nervously in his or her seat. Kari was sitting in Tai's lap and staring mindlessly at the wall. She just couldn't get over the fact that one of her friends might die because of her. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and turned to Tai, once again soaking his shirt with her salty tears.  
  
Tai hugged her gently and tried to comfort her just as Matt's parents came out of the room. All of the kids looked up and Kari immediately stopped crying. "Matt's awake and it appears he's going to be fine." Mr. Ishida said to the kids. "You may see him if you like."  
  
The kids piled into the room, followed by the two adults. TK was by Matt's bedside on the right. Matt had a bandage on his head and his left leg was in a cast. His right arm was bandaged up and he had a few bruises on his face. There was an IV tube going into his left hand and tube in his chest to help with the pain.  
  
Kari took a seat next to TK. Tai and Sora stood at the head of Matt's bed on the left and everyone else took what places were left. "Hey guys," Matt said in a weak voice. This brought a light smile of relief to everyone's face. "Are you okay?" Sora asked.  
"I've felt better, but I should be all right."  
"Matt," Kari's soft voice came from the right of him.  
"Yeah?"  
"Thank you for saving my life."  
  
Kari broke into tears immediately after saying that. TK put an arm around her to try to comfort her and Mimi took her in for a sisterly hug. She cried into Mimi's pink dress, but Mimi didn't seem to mind at all. Tai and Sora looked at each other with concern. "I'm.....so sorry for putting you in here." Kari sobbed. Matt got a concerned look on his face and shook his head. "It wasn't your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself for these things." He said softly to the young girl. "And, you're welcome." Kari wiped her tears away and smiled.  
  
"WHAT??!!!!!" Gomamon shrieked. Gennai sadly shook his head. "I'm sorry, Gomamon. I don't know anything about Golden Crests."  
"But I saw them! It was Courage and Reliability! Plus, the Digital World is in danger! Surely at least Tai and Joe will come back!"  
"I just don't know, Gomamon. Maybe you're right, but whatever's happening, it has not been prophesied."  
"But they HAVE to come back! If they don't, then what will happen to the Digital World!?"  
"I don't know. I just don't know. You should rest, you too, Centarumon. The two of you have had a difficult journey."  
  
As Gennai turned to dismiss himself, Gomamon hung his head. He was so sure that Gennai would have known something. "Just get some sleep. If they do return, you'll need to be well rested." Centarumon said as he followed Gennai. Gomamon turn and crawled over to a sleeping bag. He scooted under the covers and laid his head down on the pillow. 'Joe.' Gomamon looked to the darkened sky just before falling asleep.  
  
"You didn't have to come," Joe said as he finished packing up for his trip. Mimi stood behind him in his room. "I wanted too. I mean, Kari, Sora, and TK are with Tai at his apartment, Matt's in the hospital, and Izzy at his house still trying to make contact. I thought you'd like to have some one see you off."   
"Thanks Mimi." Joe said as he finished packing. "Keep us updated on Matt's condition."  
"Sure thing." Mimi said.   
  
The two of them looked at each other for a second. They looked into each other's eyes. In that instant, time froze. When time started again, Joe tried to shake it off. What was he thinking? Him and Mimi? That just didn't seem like a likely pairing. 'It's anxiety. I'm just nervous about going back, that's all.' Joe told himself. He sat down and waited for the phone call. All the elements were in place. The computer was on, but not in use and the phone was ready.  
"Joe?"  
"Yes?"  
"Say 'hi' to Palmon for me if you see her."  
"Okay."  
  
Joe glanced at Mimi again. She looked at him with her hands in front of her. Her hair was in a ponytail just as she had had it when she wore her hat. 'She looks better with out the hat,' Joe thought. The look on Mimi's face was on of sympathy and worry. Worry for her friends. For some reason, Joe couldn't take his eyes off Mimi. His eyes seemed to be care free as he gazed into Mimi's beautiful eyes. A smile grin crossed his face. 'Joe, don't do this! You can't fall in love! Not now! Not with all that's happening in the Digital World! Besides, you've got a lot of studying to do! Stop this now!' His mind screamed out, but his body simply ignored it.   
  
Joe was brought out of his trance by a ringing phone. He shook his head as if to get the strange feeling of a crush out of it, only to have his eyes once again locked with Mimi's. This time, their gaze was more serious. "It's time." Joe said quietly. So quietly, that Mimi would've known he was talking if she hadn't seen his lips move.   
  
Joe went over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello," he said timidly. He was still very nervous about the journey. "Ah, Warrior of Reliability! Good to talk to you! I suppose the Warrior of Courage told you how to return to the Digital World?"  
"Yes."  
"Prepare for departure. I'll alert the Warrior of Courage that it's time."  
  
"Tai, wake up." Kari said as she gently tried to shake her brother awake. Tai was sleeping on his stomach and snoring loudly as Kari began to wonder if her efforts were in vain. "C'mon! Wake up!" Kari almost yelled as she shook him a bit more violently. Tai stirred, but remained asleep. 'How does mom do this every morning?' Kari thought. "Tai," Kari whispered into his ear. "Mom made your favorite, yaki-soba with ama-ebi and kani."  
  
Tai's eyes sprung open and he quickly sat up, hitting his head on the top bunk in the process. Kari couldn't help but laugh. Tai rubbed his head and sniffed the air. "Hey! I don't smell any yaki-soba!"   
"Tai and his stomach. What a crazy pair!" Kari said, laughing to the point where she had to lean against the wall for support.  
"Kari!" Tai growled. He hated it when people messed with his head like that.  
"I'm sorry, Tai, but it was the only way to wake you up." Kari's laughter died down and her expression turned serious. "It's time to return."  
"You mean..."  
Kari nodded and lead Tai to the living room where Sora and TK sat. She pointed to the phone that was off the hook on the table. Tai picked it up. "Hello?"  
"Are you ready to return, Warrior of Courage?"  
"Yes."  
"Then make your final preparations for departure. Remember, leave this phone off the hook and don't take to long saying good bye to your friends. Every second counts and we need you!"  
"Right."  
  
"You may now make your final preparations for departure. Remember to leave this phone off the hook."  
"Of course."  
  
Joe set the phone down and turned towards Mimi. "This is it. I don't know what to say. Thank you for coming to see me off, I really appreciate it."  
"I thought you would."  
  
Joe grabbed his duffel bag and his digivice. "After I leave, say 'good bye' to everyone for me, and check up on Matt's condition, will you?"  
"Sure."  
  
Joe tried to keep his gaze turned away from Mimi. This was the worst possible time for a crush. He looked out the window. Everything seemed so peaceful. He could only imagine what was happening in the Digital World. The water from the bay reminded him of his water-loving friend. 'I'll be there soon, Gomamon. Just hold on.'  
  
Tai hugged his little sister fiercely. "Come back soon, Tai." She said in a muffled voice, having her face buried in Tai's T-shirt. "I'll come back as soon as possible." Tai released Kari from his embrace and TK walked up to him. He threw his arms around Tai's neck. "You're like a second brother to me." He said as Tai hugged him just as he had hugged Kari. "You're like the brother I never had. Keep me updated on Matt's condition, and keep an eye out on Kari for me." TK nodded as he was released.  
  
Sora walked up to Tai as he stood up again. "Tai..." Sora looked down at her feet. She allowed herself to be taken into Tai's arms and she rested her head on his shoulder. She hugged him tightly and slowly let go, as much as she hated too. "Good bye, Tai."   
"Good bye, Sora."  
  
Joe risked taking one last look at Mimi before leaving. "Good bye," he said as he turned to face his computer. "Good bye," he heard her say. He slowly walked to the computer and lifted his digivice to the screen.  
  
In his apartment, Tai did the same. As the two young boys touched their digivices to the screen, they were swallowed by a white light. The power from the screen acted like a gust, blowing papers and other various things around. The light pulled them into the computer and vanished. The wind died down and everything returned to normal, except for the absence of the two boys.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Yaki-soba is fried noodles, ama-ebi is sweet shrimp, and kani is crab. Doesn't that sound yummy???   



	3. Default Chapter Title

  
  
Battle Royal part three  
  
  
Tai closed his eyes as the blinding light shot from the computer screen. He felt himself being pulled forward. For a split second as he was being pulled through the screen, a shock of electricity shot through his veins as if he were being shocked by static electricity. He then felt himself flying. He opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by digital images and data. He looked to his left and saw something out in the distance.  
  
Joe was there also, his eyes still closed and whimpering slightly. He was not one for this kind of thing. Tai grinned slightly as the speed of which he was traveling whipped his hair around. "Joe! You okay?" Tai shouted to his companion. "Not really!" he shouted back, his eyes still shut tightly.  
"You can open your eyes now!"  
  
Joe opened his eyes slightly and looked at Tai. He was grinning mischievously. 'At least he's enjoying this.' Joe thought as he sighed. "Take it easy, Joe! We'll be there soon!"  
"It think I'm gonna be sick!"  
"Try to keep it down for a few more minutes! It'll pass when we stop."  
"I don't know if I can! This is....too fast!"  
  
Tai was about to sigh at Joe's low tolerance for high speeds at zero gravity, when he too began to fell nauseous. He felt his stomach falling as he and Joe began making a sloped descent. Their angle of flight kept getting steeper until they were almost falling vertically. They broke free of the digital images and found themselves miles above the Digital World, still falling. "Oh my God! We're gonna die!" Joe said as they plunged towards a continent just below them.  
  
Tai had a bit more faith in the whole transferring form one world to another process and showed no fear. "Don't worry! We'll be okay! Just hang on there for a few more minutes and it'll be over!" Tai said, trying to reassure his frantic friend. Joe once again had his eyes closed tightly and tried not to scream. Even though he would never admit it, Tai was on the edge of screaming himself. Trying not to scream is a very difficult thing to do when you see yourself plummeting towards the ground at breakneck speed.  
  
Tai was starting to get a little scared. They had already reached terminal velocity and were only about five hundred feet above the ground, yet they hadn't slowed down at all. Joe was breathing heavily and looked ready to pass out. Tai looked at the ground, which was getting closer and closer with every second. 'We'll be fine. That guy wouldn't have called us here just to be killed upon arrival. We'll be fine.' Tai thought to himself. Such thought trains had kept him going even when victory seemed impossible, and it always helped him pull through. This time should be no different.   
  
They were only ten feet from the ground now. There wasn't anything Tai or Joe could do, so Tai closed his eyes and relaxed his body, waiting for whatever would happen to happen. A white light surrounded the two boys and pulled them up at the last second. It slowly flipped them over so that their feet were pointing to the ground and gently set them down. Curious, the boys opened their eyes and looked around.  
  
"See? Told you we'd be okay. I...." Tai was cut off by Joe vomiting. His whole body was shaking and he was hyperventilating. Tai was shaking too as he felt his organs slide back into their proper positions within his body. Tai leaned up against a tree for support and looked around. "Joe! Do you recognize this place!" Tai said with excitement. When he got no response, he looked over at Joe. He was lying on his back, still breathing uneasily. "Are you okay?" Tai asked as he walked to his friend's side.   
"No,"  
"Close your eyes. That might help."  
  
Joe did as he was instructed and Tai sat down beside him. "Do you know where we are?" Tai asked him once his breathing settled into a more relaxed rhythm. "Where are we?" Joe asked.  
"You don't remember this place? Well, you didn't get a good look around, did you? This is where we first arrived in Server! This is the very spot that Whamon dropped us off! And you know what that means!"  
"What?"  
"Baka! The Koromon village is nearby! They'll give us a heads-up on what's going on. And they'll have food and shelter for us!"  
"I don't think I want to eat right now. Tai, could you get some Pepto out of duffel?"  
"Sure."   
  
Tai dug through Joe's duffel and handed him the bottle of Pepto. He then took out his mini telescope and looked around. Everything seemed so dark. For the first time, he realized just how dark it was. The fall had diverted his attention from his surroundings. He looked up to see the entire sky covered with red clouds. It was impossible to see the sun, so he assumed it was dusk. "We should get goin' before it gets too dark."  
"Okay, just give me a minute. I had kind of a traumatic experience."  
"I wouldn't go so far as to call it traumatic."  
"Tai, you know I'm scared to death of heights!"  
"Well hurry up! Who knows how much time we have before night fall and I don't know about you but I sure don't want to be stuck out here at night, especially without our digimon."  
  
When Joe was finally able to stand on his feet without shaking, they left. Tai was walking at a relatively fast pace while Joe was having a bit of trouble keeping up. "Hey, slow down a bit!" With out looking back, Tai grabbed Joe's arm and pulled him up to his side. Joe was having a bit of trouble matching Tai's pace, but was eventually able to do it. "Why are we walking so fast?"  
"I want to get there as soon as possible. I'm getting hungry. Aren't you?"  
  
Joe didn't say anything, but nodded. He shifted his shoulder a bit do to the weight of the duffel bag at a pace he didn't normally walk. Tai stopped and put his arm in front of Joe, forcing him to stop as well. "If you're having trouble walking and carrying the bag, just give it to me." Tai said with a helpful tone in his voice. Joe nodded and handed his trusty duffel bag to Tai. Tai slipped it onto his right shoulder and grabbed Joe's arm again, forcing him back into that fast pace he had yet to master.  
  
Miles above them, just below the sea of red clouds, a figure flew slowly through the sky. "That must be them. They're just mere children. This should be a snap!" The figure smiled evilly at her potential victims. She had long black hair which had a misty appearance to them. She had red, translucent wings that resembled those of a demon and light gray skin. She wore a long black dress and had a sword strapped to her back. "So lonely they look. I should introduce myself."  
  
The demon took a quick dive and flew off at super speed. "Did you see that?" Tai said. Joe looked around frantically. "What?! See what? An evil digimon?"  
"No. I saw something in the sky. It just flew over head."  
"You must've been seeing things."  
"I don't think so. Let's just try to get to the Koromon village. Double pace!"  
"Oh, God."  
  
Tai was practically dragging Joe behind him as he thundered through the lifeless terrain and towards the forest ahead. The evil figure chuckled at the sight of the youths from her hiding place in the forest. "Did you call for us, Mistress?" a Vilemon asked from the cover of the leaves. "Yes. You see those children over there? Chase them into the woods and attack them."  
"Yes, Mistress. We'll get right on it."  
  
Vilemon let out a high pitched cry. An army of Vilemon appeared from the trees. "Mistress orders that we chase those children into the woods and attack! We shall not disappoint Mistress!" The other Vilemon barked in agreement and flew off to complete their task. Of course, the army of Vilemon did not go unnoticed by Tai and Joe. "What are those things?!" Joe asked.  
"I don't know. Let me see."  
  
Tai took out his mini telescope. "They're Vilemon! And they're coming right for us! Retreat!" Tai and Joe turned around only to find themselves face to face with a line of Vilemon slowly advancing on them. They quickly turned around and ran as the Vilemon ran after them. The Vilemon that were still flying towards them dove at them like hawks. The two boys were barely able to dodge the assault and keep ahead of the small army behind them. Tai took a brief second to look around. The Vilemon had surrounded him and Joe. There was nowhere to go except the forest. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Tai!"  
"Well, it's not like we have a choice, and we might be able to lose them. Just keep running!"  
  
Tai and Joe ran into the woods, narrowly dodging trees and other obstacles. For a while, the were beginning to lose the Vilemon and it looked as though they would escape. "Tai! Look out!" Tai looked up just in time to see a Vilemon dive down from a tree and tackle him and full speed, right in the face. The force of the blow sprung a leek in his nose. The Vilemon tried to pin him to the ground, but Tai pushed him off and stood up, holding his bleeding nose.  
  
Then it was apparent. Tai and Joe were trapped. They were completely surrounded by Vilemon, both on the ground and in the trees. The Vilemon laughed evilly at their victims. "Welcome." A female voice from seemingly nowhere said. A few Vilemon who were perched on the ground in front of the two Digidestined, left their spot to make room for their commander. The demon-like woman stepped out of the shadows and stood right in font of the boys. "I am VictoriaGod. It's a pleasure to meet you."  
"VictoriaGod? Just who, or what, are you? Are you a digimon?" Tai asked.  
"No, not quite. I am a DigiGod, and you two , well, let's just say I don't need you two to gum up my plans."  
"Gum up your plans? What a minute! You're one of those Evil DigiGods that guy told us about!"  
"What! Who told you?!"  
"I'm not so sure myself, but I know this,"  
  
Tai picked up a dead branch and held it in front of him, signaling for a challenge. "I will defeat you!" This only brought a round of laughter from VictoriaGod and the Vilemon. Joe nervously tapped Tai on the shoulder. "Uh, Tai, what are you doing? She's a DigiGod! We've never faced a DigiGod before! She could be stronger than a Mega digimon!"  
"I am." VictoriaGod said, over-hearing Joe. Tai didn't back off, though. He held his ground and was more determined than ever. "I don't care how strong you are! I'm not scared of you!" He narrowed his eyes. "I am going to kill you."  
"Kill me?" VictoriaGod said with a mocking hint of shock in her voice as she brought a hand to her chest.  
"I'm not going to let you get away with what you've done the Digital World!"  
"Is that so, young man? Well then, I accept your challenge."  
  
VictoriaGod took out her sword and smirked at her opponent. Tai clenched his teeth and leered at her. He scanned her, looking for any weakness she might have, when his thoughts were interrupted by Joe. "Tai, don't do this! This is nuts! What are you thinking?!" Tai looked at him over his shoulder. "Well, you know what they say."  
"What do they say?"  
"To live a good life, you must act on your emotions."  
"Wait a minute! That's Gundam Wing! You can't do that!"  
"Why not?"  
"Because it's from Gundam Wing!"  
"So?"  
"So, this isn't Gundam Wing and you're not Heero Yuy!"  
"I don't care! I'm not going to back down! What other choices do we have? We don't have our digimon and we can't out run them and I don't know about you, but if I'm to die I'm gonna die fighting!"  
  
Joe just shook his head and sighed. It was impossible to get Tai to back down from a challenge. Tai turned back to his enemy and locked his eyes with hers. He stared right into her icy black eyes. Two windows into the dark and cold of space. He could almost feel her gaze turn his eyes cold. Tai took his weapon and stood ready as he continued to stare into her eyes. Her eyes, which had been hard a narrow, suddenly snapped open as she sprung from her perch to attack. Tai saw this and just barley avoided being decapitated by her sword.  
  
Tai swung the tree branch at her only to hit thin air. She was faster than he had anticipated. She zipped behind him and elbowed him in the back. Tai dropped down and tried to sweep her out from under her feet, only to discover that she had moved quickly once again and took this opportunity to kick him in the face. Out of pure reflex, Tai grabbed her ankle. He then stood up and twisted her ankle nicely. VictoriaGod let out a annoyed grunt of pain as she tried once again to decapitate him, only to cut of a bit of his hair.  
  
Tai's eyes grew wide as he saw bits of his hair fall to the ground. He growled and looked at VictoriaGod, right in her icy black eyes. He narrowed his rage filled eyes. "Don't touch the hair." He grabbed the hair on the back of her head and slammed his right fist into her face as hard as he could. VictoriaGod stumbled back a bit and leered at Tai. Her nose was leaking a thick purple fluid. "You bastard!" she whispered harshly. She held out her hand and pointed it at him. Tai wasn't sure what she was planning, but then realized what she was doing when he saw yellow bits of light being drawn into the center of her hand. She was powering up.  
  
Tai lunged at her with his weapon to stop her from charging up, but was a little late. Just when he was less than a foot from her, she shot a large yellow beam at him. Tai was thrown back several feet and was sent straight into a tree. He grunted with pain as he crashed to the ground. Tai quickly struggled to his feet and stood ready. VictoriaGod chuckled a bit and was about to attack, when the sky was brightened by a large number of purple lightning bolts. "Oh, look at the time. I must be going now. We'll have to finish this later." She said as she slowly ascended into the sky.  
  
"You want we should take 'em both out, Mistress? Or would you like the pleasure of doing so?" one of the Vilemon asked. VictoriaGod looked at Tai and Joe thoughtfully for a moment. "Na, have fun!" With that said, the large army of Vilemon quickly advanced on the two. VictoriaGod laughed as she flew off, hearing the cries of the two youths being attacked from all sides.  
  
Joe had been pinned to the ground as twenty or so Vilemon ripped at his flesh. Joe tried to fight them off, but there were far too many of them. Joe closed his eyes and swung his fists blindly through the air, thinking this would the end for him, when he suddenly felt something fly over his body and the weight of the three Vilemon on his chest vanish. He opened his eyes to see Tai clubbing the Vilemon off of him in a desperate attempt to save his friend. Vilemon were attacking Tai as he was doing so, but he paid no mind to them as he only wanted to help his friend.  
  
Joe could no longer stand the sight of Tai being attacked. He rolled over and got to his feet. He picked up another dead branch as a weapon of his own and nailed the Vilemon who was gnawing at Tai's arm. The two gave each other a thankful look and got back to back, doing all they could to fight off the Vilemon. Joe was very surprised with himself. He had hit twenty Vilemon as they closed in with one quick swing. He had no idea he had that kind of hand-eye coordination. But he was mostly surprised with what he was doing. Joe was a peaceful kid who didn't care for violence. 'Well, when you've got to defend yourself, you've got to defend yourself.' Joe thought to himself as the clubbed a few more Vilemon.  
  
It wasn't long before Joe realized how much blood he had lost. He was concentrating too hard of fending of the Vilemon to noticed his pain, but now he was starting to get light headed. "Tai, I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!" Tai fiercely swung at an advancing Vilemon with his teeth clenched. "Just keep fighting as long as you can, Joe! Joe?"   
  
Tai heard the sound of someone moan behind him. He no longer felt Joe's back against his and he heard a soft thud sound. Tai looked over his shoulder to see Joe lying face down on the ground. Tai gasped and turned to fight off the Vilemon that were after his unconscious friend. Tai managed to protect him, but only for a short time before a Vilemon hit him from behind in the back of his head.   
  
Tai fell to the ground, but was still clinging on to consciousness. But as he fought with what little strength he had left, he began to gradually lose to the unconsciousness that slowly devoured him. 'I can't give up! I can't die now! Not like this!' Tai screamed in his head with all of his soul. His determination grew and he slowly got to his feet. His crest symbol within his chest glowed a bright orange light, so bright that it blinded the Vilemon. The light engulfed Tai as he struggled to stay on his feet.   
  
Taking advantage of the Vilemon's confusion, Tai punched one right in the face. He then grabbed that Vilemon and slammed it into another. He went on with his assault as long as he could, until he finally ran out of energy and fell to the ground, unconscious. The orange light slowly vanished and the darkness washed over the body's of the defeated Vilemon. The only survivors were the one's that had escaped from the light of Tai's courage.  
  
VictoriaGod returned to her lair in a cave above the clouds. She was greeted by her loyal servant and warrior, LadyDevimon. "May I pour you some whine, M'lady?" LadyDevimon asked as her master entered the cave. "Yes, please. That would be good." LadyDevimon nodded and walked over to the whine cabinet. VictoriaGod walked over to her red, silk thrown and sat, cursing a bit at her aching nose. "What troubles you, M'lady?" LadyDevimon asked as she poured her mistress some chilled white whine. "Oh, nothing. Nothing that had been taken care of."  
"Do you mean those Digidestined children?"  
"Yes. There was this one very annoying kid with goggles. He actually challenged me to a one on one fight."  
"Hm. Poor fool."  
"Yes, well. I have to admit, he did get a good hit on me, but he didn't stand a chance. I would've loved to have finished him off personally, but I wanted to avoid getting blood on my favorite dress, especially when we have guests coming."  
  
LadyDevimon nodded as she handed her mistress a fancy whine glass. VictoriaGod sipped at the whine slowly. "I told the Vilemon to eliminate him and the other boy. I almost feel sorry for those two."  
"The key word there, M'lady, is 'almost'."  
  
VictoriaGod chuckled a bit at the thought of what her Vilemon troops had done to Tai and Joe. But her laughter quickly died when the remaining five of her Vilemon entered the cave, beaten and exhausted. "What happened to you!? What are you doing here!?" VictoriaGod demanded.  
"Please forgive us, Mistress. We could not defeat them."  
"What?!!!"  
"They were too strong."  
"They were children! How could you have been beaten by children?!"  
"They began to club us, then one set off this blinding light. It was too much. We were the only survivors."  
"I see. So in other words, you have failed."  
"Yes. Please forgive us, Mistress. Give us another chance."  
"I ordered you to kill them! You couldn't even finish a simple task such as that!"  
"We are eternally sorry, Mistress. Please give us another chance."  
"Another chance! You want me to give you another chance to fail! You are pathetic, running from a little boy like that! Do you know what the penalty for running from a battle is?!"  
"No! Mistress! Please!"  
"Silence!!!"  
  
The Vilemon cowered in fear as VictoriaGod stalked towards them. She took out her sword and with one quick swipe, cut all five of them in half. LadyDevimon chuckled silently as she watched their intestines and other various organs spill to the floor in a puddle of blood. VictoriaGod turned to her, her sword's blade dripping with blood. "They used to be so dependable. Clean this mess up, please. My brothers will be here shortly."  
"Yes, M'lady."  
  
Tai moaned and slowly opened his eyes. He squinted a bit at the brightness of the room his was in. "He's awake." He heard a very familiar voice say. With in seconds, Tai was surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of big, round eyes, all staring at him. After looking around a bit, Tai realized that he was surrounded by Koromon. 'I must be in the Koromon village.' He thought. "Tai," He moved his head to the right at the source of the very familiar voice that had called him. A weak smile covered him mouth when he saw who it was. "Agumon."  
  
  
Sorry this part is so short. School kinda disrupted my fanfic writing. Tell me what you think!  
  
  



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